One Night In Balto
by NinjaCopter
Summary: What happens after Chip gets rescued by the Voltron Force on Balto.


**A/N: This is my first time doing a Voltron FanFic. The story takes place after the episode "Brains". I'd like to thank Bellantara and Kogane Akira for being my beta reader for this one and Aqua Lion for the Baltan words.**

What happened to him was still shrouded in mystery. It wasn't unusual that Chip would forget something horrible or terrifying such as this. Being held captive against his own will and turned into a pawn like his fellow Baltans, using him to gather information and his combat skills for nefarious reasons. The nickname "Ninja Scientist Zombie" had stuck, but, as cool as it sounded, it was still disturbing what had been done to them. He didn't know how long he had been in that certain trance as he lost track of time, as he was surrounded with rows of life support pods, tubes dangling from the ceiling and scattered across the floor and the smell of Haggarium lingering over the place, gave him the feeling he's about to throw up. As he could hear the other members of the Voltron Force talking about what had occurred, he heard footsteps of someone approaching him from behind. A hand tapped Chip's shoulder, giving him shivers down his spine. When he turned around and found out that it was his twin, Pidge, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you remember anything about what happened?" Pidge asked.

"No. The last thing I can remember is that I was programming something for a project that was due next week. Next thing I knew, the alarm rang out loud and that's it." Chip replied.

"Nothing about being a 'zombie'?" asked Hunk.

"None. After the alarm rang, it's all a blur to me. Next thing I knew I saw Pidge and some other guy."

"Uhh... that was me." said Vince.

"Oh. Sorry about that, Vince."

"It's alright," he said with a smile.

Everything was still a one big mystery to him, but he didn't care about it anymore. The important thing was that he was safe and glad to see his brother in person after a very long time. It had been a while since they had met face-to-face. They had only seen each in holo-phone calls during "Intergalactic Ninja Appreciation Day" and other days including their birthday. Chip checked the time only to realize that it was already late night and it had been a long and exhausting day for all of them.

"Pidge. If I may ask, how long did it take for you to reach Balto from Arus?" he asked.

"About three hours." Pidge said while he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

"I see. And it seems like you are already tired."

"Yeah. We've been running the whole night."

"Well, if you like you can crash in my apartment for the night. If it's okay with the others."

"I would ask Keith about it."

Pidge then asked Keith if they could stay for the night in Chip's apartment. Given that Keith was yawning too much to answer, it was clear that the commander was just as exhausted as Pidge and Chip. He nodded and asked the opinion of the other members of the Voltron Force on staying on Balto for one night. Everyone agreed.

"Then it's settled, We're going to rest at Chip's apartment for the night, then we head back to Arus first thing in the morning." said Keith.

It had been a long night for them. Running away from "Ninja Scientist Zombies", fighting Lotor in his Samurai Robeast form, Pidge and Vince stopping Maahox from getting information about Voltron's weaknesses and rescuing his fellow Baltans, including him.

"Okay. Then let's get out of this brain farm. It really gives me the creeps." said Chip.

And with a nod from the others, they left the place and started walking to his apartment.

"So Chip, how far is your apartment from here?" Daniel groaned, fatigue slurring his words.

"My apartment is not far from where we are right now. It's just a few blocks from here." he replied with a chuckle.

A few minutes later, they arrived at his apartment. Vince was a little bit terrified on the design of the place as the exterior of his apartment looks like a giant eye is glancing down on him, but Chip assured him that it wasn't a haunted house.

"Nice place you got here, Chipper. You own the place?" asked Lance.

He nodded. "Yup. Took me months before I officially owned this house."

He then entered the code to unlock the doors of the apartment. The doors slid open as they entered his pad.

"Come on in. Be my guest." He said to the others as he welcomed them to his place.

His apartment was almost the same as the other apartments in his neighborhood: living room, kitchen, bathroom, a couple of bedrooms, closet, etc. He likes to call it his "bachelor pad".

"Do you get lonely living here just by yourself?" asked Allura.

Hearing it made him stop for a second. He turned around to her and he nodded.

"Yes. I do feel lonely sometimes but it's alright." He replied.

She understood his answer and smiled back at him.

"I'll go to the closet to grab some pillows and blankets. I'll be right back." He said and headed to his closet, pulling out a couple of spare pillows and blankets. A couple of pillows and blankets won't be enough for a group of eight.

Pidge noticed Chip being a bit off after talking to Allura. He went straight to where Chip is, he finds him just finished pulling the spare pillows and blankets from the closet.

"Chip?"

Chip turned around and found Pidge standing in the doorway of his bedroom. "Yes, Pidge?"

"I wanted to talk to you..."

"That's what I'm about to say also."

"Is 'now' a good time to talk?"

"We can talk once the others are asleep. I want this to be a private conversation."

"Alright."

"Thanks, Pidge."

They both went back to the living room with the spare pillows and blankets. Chip thought that these pillows and blankets are more needed by the two ladies of the Force. He handed a pillow and blanket each to Allura and Larmina.

"Thank you very much, Chip." said Allura.

"Thanks." said Larmina followed by a yawn.

"I'm sorry, guys. That's all the spare pillows and blankets that I've got." said Chip.

"It's okay, Chipper. I'll go get the sleeping bags from the lions. I'll be back." replied Lance and went out to get the sleeping bags for the others. As Lance was getting the sleeping bags, He knew that they're exhausted from their mission, maybe even hungry and thirsty for that matter, Chip asked the team if they want a quick snack before they sleep.

"Would you like something to eat while you're waiting for the sleeping bags?"

Everybody agreed to his offer. "Yes Chip, that would be great." said Keith.

"Alright. Eight bacon sandwiches and a pitcher of iced tea, coming right up." Chip replied and went straight to the kitchen to fix up some snacks.

As he came back with a plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of iced tea, Lance arrived with the sleeping bags and gave a sleeping bag each to the guys.

"Dig in, guys. I'll go get some plastic cups. Does anybody need anything else?" said Chip.

"No. We're good, little dude." Hunk mumbled as he was nibbling on the sandwich.

"Okay, I'll be right back." He said as he went back to the kitchen to get the disposable cups. Moments later, he returned with the cups and gave a plastic cup to each one. As he watched as the others enjoying the food and drinks, his stomach grumbled. He rushed back to the kitchen again to make a sandwich for himself and munched it down like he hadn't eaten in days. After chowing down on the sandwich, he came back to the living room and finds that the plate and the pitcher is already empty and the used cups are stacked and ready to be disposed. He picked them up from the table. As he was heading for the kitchen again, he asked. "Do you guys need anything else?"

"None at the moment, Chip." said Keith stifling a yawn.

"Okay, Good night, guys." said Chip and headed to the kitchen to clean up the dishes while the guys started to get in the sleeping bags and Allura and Larmina curled up on the couch. Once he was finished cleaning the dishes, he headed out of the kitchen only to find the group already asleep.

He quietly sneaked his way to his bedroom, as he entered his room, he turns around and looks at the others sleeping. Looking at them, it reminded him of something... his former teammates. He hadn't heard anything from any of them after their team was disbanded. Pidge, on the other hand, tried to get to sleep when he noticed that Chip was looking at them. Pidge closed his eyes pretending he was sleeping. After one final glance, Chip breathed a heavy sigh, turned off the lights and locked his bedroom door. He changed to his pajamas and lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, holding back his tears as he remembered the good times he had with his teammates.

As Pidge heard his syrankar sigh, he knew that something was bothering Chip. He remembered that he wanted to talk to him. He quietly got up and sneaked his way to Chip's bedroom. He found out that the door was locked, so he quietly knocked at the door. Chip heard the knocking.

"Who is it?"

"Uh... Chip?" Chip recognized Pidge's voice and got out of the bed and unlocked the door.

"Come on in, Pidge."

"Okay."

Once Pidge entered the room, Chip got out of the bed and locked the door so that no one interrupted their conversation, even though everyone was asleep. They both sat on Chip's bed.

"So Pidge, what do you want to talk about?"

Pidge hesitated, trying to hold back his tears while answering. "It's been seven long years since we have seen each other in person."

"Yup. Seven years... seems like forever."

"So, what kept you busy all this time?"

"Well, ever since Wade implemented that 'Anti-Voltron Policy' and disbanded our team five years ago, I've been on Balto doing mechanic stuff."

"Wait a minute, Chip. You've been doing part-time jobs?"

"Well, duh. The credits I've earned from those part-time jobs helped me a lot during those hard times."

"What about your vehicle?"

"Oh, you mean my helicopter? I stashed it away. It's kept in a safe place here in Balto. It was hard sneaking out that vehicle from Wade's sight. Took me almost an hour avoiding being detected by Wade-bots, sneaking through different air vents, maneuvering through lasers, and of course, avoiding the vehicle to be detected leaving the vicinity. But in the end, I escaped with the vehicle unharmed. My vehicle became my temporary home after I came back here."

"Did you get any help from the Shadow Council?"

"The Shadow Council provided this place to me after they knew that I came back here. I was summoned and they commended my achievements back when I was an Air Team Member and rewarded me kindly."

"I see. Looks like you've been pretty busy during those days."

"Yeah. How 'bout you, Pidge. I'm guessing you were also busy during those seven long years."

He nodded. "Pretty much the same routine as always, you know that, syrankari. And I think you know already what happened to our team five years ago, remember? I had to work as a Tech Sergeant for Wade back then."

"That's terrible."

"Terrible indeed. Working for that bastard makes my blood rise."

"Easy, Pidge. You're not the only one who has problems with Wade. Me and my former teammates also hold a grudge against him."

"I know."

He sighed. "I'll never forgive him for what he's done."

"Well, don't you worry about it anymore. It's all been settled and done."

"Good to hear. Looks like we both had good and bad times."

Pidge hesitated then, remembering the expression on Chip's face as he watched the Lion team together.

"Chip..."

"What is it, syrankar?"

"Do you... miss your teammates?"

That question struck Chip's mind real hard. He tried to hold back his tears but it failed as he started to shed a tear in front of Pidge.

"Alsan ja nye, syrankar. Yes, I miss them every day, Pidge. When I looked at your teammates, I feel like I was caring them as if they were my teammates."

"Don't be sorry, syrankari. You'll hear from them soon, they might be worried and have missed you."

"You're right, Pidge." said Chip as he wipes his tears.

"But there's one thing I still haven't told you..."

"And what is it?"

"I've missed you very much, Chip, my syrankari." said Pidge as he shed a tear.

"Oh, Pidge. Come over here." he replied and gives him a hug. "I've missed you too."

Pidge returns back the hug and tears starting to fall from both of their eyes. As they wipe their tears, Chip gets out of bed and unlocks the door of his room. He then approached Pidge and wrapped his arm around Pidge's shoulder.

"Pidge, I'm glad we had this kind of talk."

"Me too." said Pidge while stifling a yawn. "Hey, Chip."

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if we share the bed for tonight?"

Chip nodded. "Sure, Pidge."

"Zarokta tor, syrankari." said Pidge as he curls up on one side of the bed.

"Zarokta kai, syrankar." Chip replied as he lies down on the other side of the bed.

"Good night, Chip."

"Good night also, Pidge." said Chip as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, everyone was starting to wake up and getting ready to leave for Arus when they noticed Pidge is missing. Both Pidge and Chip are still sleeping. Hunk volunteered to find his "little buddy". He started searching the other rooms then he went straight to Chip's room. As he entered the room, he saw the brothers still asleep in the same bed and quietly exited the room.

"Found him, boss." Hunk said to Keith.

"Where is he?" Keith asked while he was stretching his arms.

"Sleeping alongside his brother." Hunk replied with a chuckle.

"I see. Could you wake him up? We're leaving soon."

"Okay, boss."

Hunk went back to Chip's room to wake up Pidge.

"Little buddy? Pidge? Time to wake up." said Hunk while poking Pidge.

Pidge opened his eyes and he saw Hunk poking him.

"Stop it, Hunk." said Pidge while rubbing his eyes.

"Boss says it's time to go."

After Pidge heard that they were about to leave, he then woke up Chip.

"Chip...Chip." said Pidge as he tapped his back.

Chip opened both of his eyes and sat up on the bed.

"Razzak zarokaje, syrankar." He said as he stretched out, then he noticed someone else was in the room. "Oh. Good Morning, Hunk." He said with a smile.

"Chip. It's time for us to go." said Pidge quietly to Chip. Chip nodded then gets out of bed.

"Hunk, could you give us a couple of minutes?" Pidge asked Hunk.

"Sure, little buddy. We'll be in the living room if you need us." Hunk replied.

"Thanks, big guy." said Pidge and waved at Hunk as he left the room.

"So, I guess this means 'goodbye for now', huh?" Chip asked.

"I guess so." Said Pidge and gave his little brother a big hug.

"Thanks for letting us stay for night, Chip. I... I mean, we appreciate it."

"No problem, syrankar. You're welcome to stay back here on my place anytime."

"So, I was wondering if you could visit us on Arus on the next 'Intergalactic Ninja Appreciation Day'?"

"That would be totally awesome, Pidge."

"I knew you would say that, syrankari." Pidge said with a chuckle.

"Come on, let me cook you some breakfast before you guys leave." said Chip as they both walk out of the room.

_A/N: Syrankar means "brother", Syrankari means "little brother", Alsan ja nye means "I'm sorry", Zarokta tor means "Thank you", Zarokta kai means "You're welcome", Razzak zarokaje means "Good morning". Thanks again to Aqua Lion for the Baltan words._


End file.
